Four Strands of Steel
by Wave Weaver
Summary: With Brother Blood in jail, a new Head Master comes to teach the next generation of villains. With a new leader comes old faces and new recruits. First FF, R
1. New Blood and Old Robots

**Four Strands of Steel**

By: Wave Weaver

Anyone that has ever stood too close to an emergency warning bell will comment on how loud and obnoxious the high pitched wailing tends to be, even more so if dragged on for long periods of time. The red light that twirled around in its glass like it had been taken from the top of an old fashion squad car had been spinning and spraying the room with its red light for nearly three minutes. One minute more was the average response time for any kind of police or anti-hostile threat force in the near area. It would be a much shorter time normally, but the guards stationed in front of the elaborately large door had been out cold long before the door had been blasted inward with a few well placed charges from a small bald kid in a green jumpsuit. The mechanical, and very irritating, wail of the security alarm was now ringing constantly, alerting all trespassers that they were known and were running out of time before the inevitable fight with the authorities.

A very large fist connected to a strong hairy arm couldn't stand the noise any longer and silenced the mechanical device with a quick blow to the console face. There was a shuddering cry of almost recognizable mechanical agony before it wailed no more.

"Stop wasting time and give us a hand." A pink haired girl in an outfit with open ended sleeves and black and purple color design ordered. The sorceress was currently picking certain jewels from a rather large meal crate with a broken lock, no doubt a bit of bad luck for the company that was to receive the precious stones. Each one she inspected under the watch of a cat-like eye before tossing them back into the box, not satisfied with any thus far. The small kid in the green jumpsuit was not nearly as picky as his female cohort, and was currently tearing pieces of electronic equipment from the opened computer terminals and dropping them into a large sack. His beady eyes were squinted into concentrated circles of joy as each board was looked over quickly before shoved in with the rest.

The burly beast of a person who had ended the miserable existence of the alarm turned and spotted his two partners, moving to aid the female. He watched her select each stone and return it for a little while before his brow furrowed in agitation. The pink haired magic user got one last look at the stone she was holding, a fist sized ruby cut into the pattern of a hexagon, before the entire crate was lifted from in front of her. Mammoth, the crate resting on his shoulder, gave her a fanged grin before walking over to the wall nearest the small techno junky Gizmo. Jinx pocketed the ruby and followed, arriving next to the two males as Gizmo finished selecting the last of his computer boards.

"We're out'a here!" He proclaimed, the bag over one shoulder. Jinx nodded and raised a hand to the wall. Pink energy glowed around her palm before extending outward in an arch that flowed into the concrete wall, which cracked and shattered as though it were glass. Light from the tower spotlights flooded their vision and both Jinx and Mammoth shielded their eyes with one hand. A visor and slipped itself from Gizmo's pack over his own, and he was currently messing with a small game controller with one hand. With a single press of a button, a sniper cannon poked from over his shoulder and fired a yellow blast of energy at the spotlight, knocking it out in a blaze of sparks.

"Showed those piff sniffers who's boss." Gizmo taunted.

"Don't look now, but I think we've got company." Mammoth said in a gruff voice. Sure enough, standing not much more than 20 feet from the three robbers were five costume clad teenagers, five teens that were known all too well. Mammoth dropped the heavy box onto the ground beside him, Gizmo readied metal spider legs and more laser cannons, Jinx's eyes and hands began to glow. It seemed everywhere they went, everything they did, there they were. The Teen Titans.

"The New Guy" (or) "Off the Streets"

All three of the Hive academy graduates, known as the Troika, were waiting inside the furnished office of their new Head Master. Though graduates already, they had been ordered back to the academy before they could live up to the expectations placed upon them. They were supposed to be a force that could match and beat the Titans of Jump city. But each time the two forces clashed, the Titans were the ones that could walk home with another victory on their belts, leaving the Troika to stumble home in defeat.

Their Head Master, the replacement for Brother Blood (whereabouts unknown), was a woman who could not a have been out of her thirties, yet the way she carried herself was something much more ancient than her appearance. Her eyes were the one figure that set her out as something other than anyone else on the street. She could be seen wearing the same thing every day; white dress suit with a black tie, high heels, and gold chains about her wrist. Her hair was a wavy black that fell between her shoulders and swayed when she walked. Well manicured nails, never painted, and eyebrows were accessories to a face that never wore any makeup. Already some of the older Hive students had tried to hit on her but all she had to do was turn a single eye on them and their feeble attempts withered before her like dead plants. Those eyes were remarkable, black pupils surrounded by brilliant red rings that seemed to jump from her head like fire. Much like Brother Blood, she was a telepath with abilities over the mind. Unlike the former Head Master, she did not use her abilities to control the students, though what she was rumored to be capable of was enough of a reason not to get on her bad side.

This woman, whose eyes were enough to stop all the students in their tracks, now rested behind her oak desk and kept those hellfire eyes on the three before her.

"You were unable to take either the computer hardware or the jewels with you after your defeat." The last word was like a sting to the three, and if they had not been under such a strict eye they would have flinched. "Then you must have at least some good news for me, or else you would have already started running." Though her tone was light, it was obvious that having some form of good news was their only salvation. This was the second time they had failed in a mission under the new Head Master's rules, and they were not about to repeat the punishment for failure. The memories still gave Mammoth the chills.

There was a pause that seemed to choke the life from the throats of the three, before finally Jinx moved forward. Digging her hand into the pocket of her outfit, she produced the one gem she was able to keep. She placed the large ruby down on the table before the Head Master, who let her step back before reaching out with well maintained nails and grasping the jewel. Red eyes looked over the trinket before shifting back to the Troika.

"You three are very fortunate, and the two of you should thank Jinx. She happens to have just given me what we need. This makes up for the loss of the rest." Though their straight posture did not change, all three let out a collective sigh inwardly. They were off the hook, and the glimmer of mischief was evident in Jinx's eyes. It was obvious she was already planning the ways the two boys would have to pay her back.

"There is just one more thing before you go." She said, rising from her desk. "A new recruit has entered the Academy. You three are to watch him temporarily till we are certain that he is trustworthy." She made sure the last words were very serious, as it was well known that security had been an issue thus far. Already it had been revealed that there had been two spies within Hive, and all the students had needed to undergo a rigorous reassessment before allowing any more activity at the school.

"Dismissed" The three bowed their head and turned to the door, moving out into the hallway.

"What kind of scrumbuffer are we stuck with now?" whined the little techno geek, his short arms crossed over his chest. Jinx didn't pay attention to him, her cat eyes moving around as if she were not recognizing anything around her despite all the weeks of living within the walls.

"Head Master said we look after the guy to see if he's legit. Doesn't matter who he is, as long as he's not another spy." Mammoth said in his deep throated growl. The three turned the corner together into a branched hallway that would inevitably lead them back to their dorms. The path forked before them, one direction led to the female dorm room and the other to the male dorms, but the Troika stopped before they got to the branch. Something had caught their attention.

Standing before the fork, in a posture that was enough of an indication that he had no idea where he was going, was a guy that couldn't have been much older than any of the three watching him. Though he was about the same height as Jinx, his frame was lean and showed little in the way of muscle or fat. Black hair swept back from his brow down to his neck in the style of a certain super hero they knew, and already they were on edge. When Cyborg had infiltrated the Hive he had masqueraded as someone similar in build and looks as him without all the cybernetics. This guy could have been Robin with some height added on. The main difference was that Robin was never seen without the eye mask, while the person standing confused in the hallway had no such mask. Instead there was a clear view of his brilliant eyes that were a color that was closer to gold than anything else.

As for attire, the guy was far from anything too fancy or expensive. If anything, it looked as if the clothes he wore were the only ones he owned: jeans of a faded blue that were frayed on the pant legs and had holes in various places, a white shirt that looked as if the sleeves had been torn off a long time ago, and black shoes that were falling apart. The only thing that seemed of any value was the silver chain around his neck, a set of dog tags dangling from it. There were white bandage wrappings on his palms, though they looked a few months old and not regularly changed if at all.

The newcomer must have heard the three approaching, because he turned his head to look at them with his oddly colored eyes. Then again, Jinx herself had eyes like a cat, and they had seen even weirder optics before this guy. The Hive academy was not the kind of place where people were judged by their appearance, and perhaps that was one of the leading reasons they had collected so many new students. This was a place for outcast meta-humans to come and train their powers and grow without being ridiculed for what they were.

There was a stiff moment of silence as they all stood staring at each other.

"Hey." The new guy said with a tone and voice that sounded as if it could crack ice. The three stiffened, as if they were being addressed by their headmaster. Then the kid broke out into a cheesy grin and scratched the back of his head. "Which way are the dorms?" He asked.

The Troika felt like falling over out of surprise. The new guy had sounded as if he were going to smite them, and it turned out he was a goof without a sense of direction.

It fell to Gizmo to act first. "Who the frag are you?" He asked irritated.

The guy looked puzzled for a moment, as if either he wasn't expecting the question or he was not exactly sure how to answer. "Me? Well… I'm…"

He paused, and the Hive graduates really began thinking he didn't know who he was, but then he broke out into a big childish smile.

"I'm Coil. Who're you guys?" He paused, his face falling back into a soft sternness. "And gal?" Jinx arched an eyebrow.

"We're your betters, and you'll do well to know it." Mammoth answered, his mouth cracking to reveal a few animalistic teeth.

The new guy threw his hands up in front of him and smiled stupidly. "I only asked where the dorms were. No need for violence between classmates, right?"

Jinx moved down the hallway towards the new guy. She stepped passed him but paused and turned her head to look right at him. Gold eyes met cat optics for a moment before Jinx's face stretched into that crooked blade of a smile of hers.

She raised her arm and pointed down the other hall. "The dorms for the guys are down that hall. Try not to get lost." She said humorously.

With that Jinx walked in her lazy skipping way to her dorm. Coil watched her as she went off while Mammoth and Gizmo moved down the hall to the guys' dorms. Mammoth nudged Coil with a football player shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Coil was on his feet soon after they were out of sight, dusting off his jeans and listening to the two of them snicker as they walked to their dorm.

"Round One" (or) "Test Your Might"

The new semester of courses was upon the students. They got every thought-out piece of villainy that could be imagined: from demolitions, to scheme planning, to good old fashion combat training. Hive was known for two things by those who attended: the not-so-hospitable attitudes of the students and faculty, and the combat training. Training skills and powers was somewhat of a spectacle, where dozens of students would gather in stands to watch their classmates run obstacles.

It was not something the Troika were new to, having run the gauntlet of robots and traps more than enough times, but this time it would be different. There was a new member on their team, and this would be his first time in actual combat as far as the three knew.

Thus they stood, the four of them, upon the raised platform on one end of the oval course. The field before them was barren now, but in a moment any kind of weapon could spring from the mechanical panels on the floor. The three were in their battle attire, while their newest companion was wearing a black sleeveless and a pair of black jeans with a silver gray leather jacket. The wrappings were fresh around his palms, his hair was slicked back against his skull, dog tags beneath his shirt. Beyond that, he still looked the goofball they had recently run into on their way to their dorms.

Two electrodes rose from the ground on the other end of the ring, and the buzzer rang telling them to begin. Gizmo immediately took to the air, soaring via custom rocket pack. Jinx and Mammoth went on foot, running full sprint. Coil hesitated only a moment before following the two runners. The first obstacle sprang up in front of Mammoth, a large octagon column rising from the ground and displaying three laser guns, two more appeared quickly beside the first, and soon yellow streaks flew at the runners. Gizmo was quick to act, popping shots at the first cannon the second it was out of the ground. A good shot with a blaster overloaded one of the guns, the tower exploding. Mammoth rammed a fit into the second, punching his way through the yellow metal and tearing out wires as he went. He tore the tower from its holding in the floor and tossed the whole thing overhead at the last gun tower like a log. The two erupted into flames and black smoke, which Jinx and Coil ran through with Mammoth close on their heals.

Then things began to get complicated. Holes opened in the walls and shot metal spheres the size of soccer balls through the air. Little antennas poked from the metal balls' surfaces, and blue sparks danced across the space between them. They sped through the air towards Gizmo, who had to break away from the group to dodge them, only to find them hurtling back at him for another pass.

Meanwhile, part of the ground had slid open and a platform was rising from the chamber underneath. Three massive robots, hands like giant metal lobster claws, watched the three on the ground with single blue eyes. As Jinx ran forward, the first of the robots lunged at her with a metal claw. She planted her hands on its arm and vaulted over onto its shoulder, where she released a blast of pink into its neck. The robot stumbled, and Mammoth drove his shoulder into its wobbling leg, tipping the whole thing over. As it fell, Jinx back-flipped off, right into the waiting grasp of another metal giant. Mammoth was busy driving his fist through the fallen robot's head to help, and Gizmo was still trying to loose the soaring electric balls.

As Coil ran towards Mammoth, he yelled out, "Hey big guy!"

Mammoth stopped to look up, and got a great look at the sole of Coil's new boots as he used him for a stepping stone. Mammoth was knocked backwards as Coil launched himself into the air. "Thanks for the lift!" He called back.

Mammoth growled and followed after him, a red mark in the shape of a foot still throbbing on his face. Coil saw the third and final robot in front of him before it saw him, and he landed on its back with his arms locked around its dome head. The entire head twisted around to look at him with that bit blue orb of an eye, and Coil smiled at it.

Jinx was firing a hex blast into the joint of the arm holding her when she heard was sounded like tearing metal. She looked over expecting to see Mammoth breaking his way through another of the hulking robots, but instead saw the new guy standing on the now decapitated body of a standing one, the head lying on the ground with wires sparking into the air. White cotton bandages now hung is shreds around Coil's palms. The arm holding the cat-eyed sorceress gave way and she fell to the ground, landing on her feet and palms with the metal pincer smashing into the floor behind her. She decided that there would be time for questions later, as their trial was all being carefully observed by other classmates as well as their Head Master.

Jinx sprinted for the end of the course, catching a glimpse of a struggling Gizmo in the corner of her eye. He had gotten too close to one of the antenna on the silver balls and his system was currently overloading. He was flying out of control as more of the electric spheres closed in on him fast. Jinx charged pink energy and shot it at the tiles of the roof. Pieces of metal fell down through the air and slammed the balls into the ground, leaving Gizmo to ditch his scrapped jet pack for a mechanical set of spider legs. Mammoth was done beating the last robot to death with its own arm and followed quickly behind Jinx, Coil bringing up the rear.

Mammoth suddenly stopped dead, turning his body to look at Coil. As he ran towards him, Mammoth dropped his fist and slammed it into the new guy's gut, doubling him over.

"That's for using my face as a floor mat." Mammoth growled. He grabbed Coil by the collar of his jacket and threw him the rest of the way to the finish line. Unfortunately, his aim was off, and Coil flew limply right into Jinx, knocking them both over and into a tumbling mass that skidded over the painted line between the posts. Jinx put a hand to her head and got to her knees, that was when she felt something moving on the inside of her thighs. She looked down confused to see she was sitting on Coil's mid-section. He was groaning and shaking his head, his gold eyes coming back into focus and also noticing the position of the two. Before he could get a word out, Jinx flattened her hand into his face and pushed back, slamming the back of his head into the floor, her face dropping dangerously close to his.

"You should ask first next time," She whispered menacingly to him. Jinx pushed herself off, driving a platform shoe into his injured gut as a final insult. Mammoth and Gizmo were right behind them, and by the time Coil got to his feet, rubbing now his head and his stomach, the two of them were rolling on the floor with laughter.

All four were over the line, the buzzer sounding and a large electric time clock that had been present overlooking the area now stopped its recoding dead. Their Head Mistress walked out along the balcony she had been sitting upon, now within sigh of the attendees for the show.

"That was acceptable. You four are to work together until further notice. You are to never leave alone anymore; we have had too many incidents to allow students to run around without backup." There was a grumbling from Gizmo at this; he didn't like not being able to do his own thing. Neither did Jinx, who was already planning how she would ditch whoever decided to follow her. Mammoth didn't care so much, as long as his tag along was willing to let him eat his food.

"Also," Head Mistress went on. "You four…" she smirked wickedly, "Have a job to do. Meet me in my office for your briefing." With that she walked back into the shadows. The crowd dispersed, and the four remaining Hive Academy members went their separate ways back to their dorms before they were to meet the Head Mistress.

AN: Thus ends the first two chapters of my first Fan Fiction. Reviews, Comments, Flames, and Suggestions are all welcome and appreciated. From this point each update will probably include multiple chapters, so updating may space out unevenly. If you are waiting, please be patient with me, I do have a life beyond the computer monitor.

Next:

The team of four must now set out on theri newest assignment; a task that leads to new faces, and old enemies alike.


	2. First Job and Ditching

**"The First Job" (or) "Cables and Slates" **

The native birds of Jump City chirped happily as they perched atop telephone poles and electric wires. The sound was a melody of music without a base, yet it distilled into nothing as the winged creatures took flight. Moments later, the musical ballad they had played was replaced with the splitting air of screams and destruction.

The front window of a pawn shop smashed inward with a thousand points of glass, the owner and customers covering their heads and lowering themselves to the ground as the pounding footsteps from the outside cracked shards of glass under heavy feet. There were sharp cracks as the intruder popped knuckles on a gorilla fist. An accomplished smirk across a stainless face and gray orbs looking over the various goods to be stolen.

"Every thing that shines ist nov property of Steel Skin!" He called out, his body of metal gleaming. The metal teen (only a year or two till 20), covered from bald head to booted shoes with steel metal, walked along the cases, taking what he wanted and anything that caught his eye. He shoved what he could into the pockets of his tan fishing vest and ragged pants.

"That doesn't belong to you" Someone called from the broken window. The metal man turned to see a dark haired youth in the broken window, cape flapping behind him, eyes hidden behind a white mask. The rest of the titans stood ready next to or behind Robin. The metal man took one look at the five super heroes before laughing.

"Vat vas it you planned on doing to stop me?" He dropped his current hand full of swag and cracked his hands again. "Steel Skin's about to teech you brats a lessin in respect." With that he charged, metal fist out.

On the roof of a bus across the street from the fight, the Hive members sat watching as the walking steel mill called Steel Skin bashed holes in everything that connected with his fists.

"Why do we have to waste our time with a chrome dome like him?" Asked an irritated Gizmo.

"We have to persuade him to join the Hive." Answered Jinx. She tilted her head and mockingly smirked at Gizmo. "Unless that's too much of a challenge for you."

A vein throbbed on Gizmo's forehead, but his mouth stayed shut. The four of them dropped off the bus, walking calmly towards the continuing destruction of the block.

Cyborg hit the lamp post head first, denting it into a near 90 degree angle. He was able to see strait in time to see the flying green dinosaur hurtling towards him. With a yelp of surprise, Cyborg was plowed over by Beast Boy, snapping the already damaged pole in half. Raven immediately picked it up, encasing it in black energy and swinging like a club at their metal skinned foe. Steel Skin took the blow to the side, wrapping his arms around the metal after it had collided with him. With a grunt of effort, he tore the pole from Raven's telekinetic grasp and turned around with it, smacking a flying Starfire into a brick wall.

Jinx walked lightly around the pile of rubble that the alien had been buried in, the rest of her team stretched out to her side. Steel Skin noticed them right after he had finished throwing Robin into Raven by his cape, knocking both to the ground.

"More fools asking for a lessin from Steel Skin ah? Come and get it." Steel Skin ran a pink tongue over metal lips, his face the picture of enjoyment.

"We're not here to fight you. We're here to aid you." Jinx said, reaching to her belt and pulling out a yellow Hive communicator. "We were sent from a place that believes that you deserve more."

Steel Skin straitened a little, his posture no longer than of an angry rhino about to flatten a tree. "Vat are you talking about?" he asked.

"The Hive academy invites you to join. They can make you stronger, help you get what you want…what you deserve." The last words were stressed adding emphasis and poking at his sense of desire. This was why Jinx always did the talking. Add her persuasive skills in with her instilled luck and the Hive rarely got refusals.

Steel Skin looked down at himself, the various dents and scratches on his metal frame. "Steel Skin is stronger than all... and you say theese people can do better?"

"Can and will."

Steel Skin's gray eyes slanted upward for a moment, his hand on his chin. "You from zis skool place ah. Let's see if you've got the goods to give Steel Skin a fight. Then ve see about joining." He got into what could have been a boxing stance, his fit up and his feet spread. It was that moment that Robin and Cyborg had gotten behind him. Robin flipped him over his shoulder and Cyborg smashed his fist into Steel Skin's plating. The attack sent him back through the broken window of the shop and through an unbroken display case.

The Titans reassembled, now trying to divide their attention between the Hive members and Steel Skin. Beast Boys eyes watched the Hive, and then he noticed the new guy on their team.

"Dudes, when did they get a new guy?" He asked. Cyborg and Robin turned to look at Coil, who was standing strait with both hands at his side and his face a slate of apathy.

"Here's your first taste newb." Gizmo snickered. Coil didn't even glance at him, but kept his gold eyes fixed on the titans. Jinx caught his posture and expression out of the corner of her eye, keeping everything at hand should anything unexpectedly come up.

"Attack pattern Beta!" She commanded, her team flanking her and moving out.

"Titans, go!" Robin commanded, the teen superheroes splitting into two groups: one attacking Steel Skin while he was down and one staying to deal with the Hive students.

Mammoth was the first to move, running headlong at the titans. Cyborg's sonic cannon came out shooting a blue stream at the charging beast. Mammoth jumped, dodging the beam and soaring into the air. As eyes turned on him, Gizmo was moving forward via jet pack, cannons ready. As Mammoth reached his apex, Gizmo fired, spraying the titan line with yellow blasts. Beast boy morphed into a rodent to dodge, Robin whipped out his staff and deflected some, but Cyborg to one to the chest and got thrown back. Mammoth came down, ramming both fists into the ground and sending a shockwave across the street. With the titans disoriented, and the females of the group having moved in on Steel Skin before the attack, Jinx and Coil ran in. Jinx fired a pink blast at the cracked ground, and the water pipes rupture, exploding and sending the gravel into the air in a gushing fountain.

Coil jumped it, getting to the top of the water just as Robin was getting knocked off it. Coil's kick caught Robin in the gut, and he dropped down to slam the green changeling through the water. The two female titans could not hold Steel Skin off, and they were being pressed back to the flank of the men.

Cyborg switched to sonic cannon and fired at the Hive, but his aim and luck was not good. Gizmo moved too fast with his jet pack, Mammoth tore up parts of the street as shields for any of the blue waves, Coil dodged with an agility just a level under Robin's, and Jinx was playing the part of a gymnast as she flipped and cart wheeled out of the way of every attack. Robin tossed a fist of disks, but they were met with a pink arch that caused them to explode before hitting a target.

Beast Boy changed into a rhino and charged at Coil, who jumped sideways and left Mammoth to meet the charging animal. Mammoth did just that, grabbing the horn and mouth of the beast and lifting him into the air. He grinned and tossed him at the other Titans. While flying, Beast Boy changed fro rhino to armadillo, curling into a ball. He flew past the Titans and smacked Steel Skin in the face. Steel Skin stumbled, and Starfire smashed her fist into his gut while she could.

The jade eye alien punched and kicked every part of metal on Steel Skin, but on hit was caught in his crushing grip. He hoisted her into the air and chucked her, where she was caught by a diving Robin. Raven smashed a lawn mower into Steel Skin as soon as her mental powers got a hold of it.

"We can not fight a war on two sides. We must retreat." She said as she hurled more and more merchandise in the pawn store at the charging metal skinned foe.

"Rae's right, we have to re-group." Cyborg called out as he ran in with a fist to Mammoth, connecting with the side of his face but receiving a blow to the metal kidneys in return.

Robin gritted his teeth as he deflected more laser shots from Gizmo, who had abandoned his pack for spider legs to swat at the oncoming green pest with. "Alright. Titans, Fall back!" called the Titan leader. Beast Boy changed into a falcon and took flight. Starfire caught a knock backed Cyborg and carried him off. Raven grabbed Robin and teleported them away.

Thus the Titans were gone from the fight, leaving the hive members and Steel Skin.

"So…" Steel Skin smiled and cracked his neck. "How 'bout that fight you promised."

He charged the four, yelling with fists ready. Mammoth charged back, the two slamming together in the middle of the street with their hands locked. They struggled for an advantage, but it was Steel Skin who would win this fight. Rearing back, he slammed his head into Mammoth's, knocking the big man back and sending stars through his vision. Steel Skin was about to drop his fist down onto the fallen foe when he was peppered by laser blasts from Gizmo, who took a swing at him with a mechanical spider leg. The attack left a big scratch across Steel Skin's stomach, but no other harm was evident. Instead, Steel Skin grabbed the swinging limb and tore it off, the end sparking and Gizmo fighting for balance. The metal leg was swung like a bat, taking down the other three with one blow. Gizmo landed on his butt, looking up to see Steel Skin standing over him.

Steel Skin raised the metal leg, but got tackled from behind by Mammoth. The shoulder tackle knocked him forward, into the platform shoe of Jinx, who slammed her shoe right into his nose and pressed forward, taking him down to the street. Coil was there next, dropping his leg to knock Steel Skin's ribs into his internal organs. Steel Skin rolled, Coil's boot hitting only pavement.

"You don't talk do you?" Steel Skin asked when he was back on his feet. He dusted off his vest and looked at Coil, who was still without emotion. "Steel Skin just asskin" He said with a shrug of his metal shoulders.

"They told me not to talk." Coil said sheepishly, his face falling into a stupid grin and the entire air of strength he had once held disappearing in an instant. Steel Skin laughed hard before lunging with a strait punch. Coil side-stepped, grabbing Steel Skin's thick wrist in one hand and slamming his other fist into the metal face. There was a pause, then Coil's knuckles turned red.

Leaping back in pain, Coil nursed his injured hand, hopping around with his throbbing knuckles cradled in front of him. Steel Skin burst out in a fit of laughter as someone that had once been very intimidating now looked like a little kid who had stubbed a toe. He didn't laugh too much, as another platform shoe struck him on the back of the neck. He whipped around to catch a face full of pink, this blast forcing his entire body backwards; his heals digging trenches in the street.

He looked at Jinx with a smirking face. His eye went suddenly wide however when one of his knees gave out on him thanks to a kick to the back of the knee cap. Down on one knee, Steel Skin saw the next kick aimed for his face and caught the offending foot before it hit. He rose to his feet, Coil hopping on one foot to remain standing as his other foot was being held. Steel Skin chuckled in his throat and grabbed Coil by the collar. Lifting him up, the metal machine tossed him like a sand bag into the grill of a bus, which Coil went strait through. Satisfied that one of them was no longer a threat, if alive at all, Steel Skin turned to worry about the other three. Mammoth and Gizmo had regrouped on Jinx, all three having witnessed one of their team members just shoved through a bus. Their knowledge of Coil was limited, and so far he had only showed the abilities of a trained human. If he was indeed jut that, then there was little chance of him surviving such an attack.

Steel Skin took a single step towards the remaining three when he heard something. It almost sounded like bits of metal being moved against one another. He turned towards the direction of the sound to find himself staring at the bus he had rammed Coil through. He watched as Coil staged out of the hole he had made. Besides a few nicks and cuts, he seemed fine.

"That... hurt." Coil growled in a tone that robbed Steel Skin of the warmth in his body. Coil's arms shot out in front of him, the bandages on his palms seeming to explode as something long and black shot from his hands. By the time Steel Skin realized what it was, it was wrapped around his neck and body, his arms pinned to his sides. What was holding him was something that looked like lengths of steel cables, totally black and as big around as braided rope. The ends of the cables where pointed into spikes and the bases were actually Coil's palms. Two strands, one from each of Coil's palms, wound around Steel Skin, constricting his movement and breathing.

"Surr…rendir" Steel Skin managed with little air. Coil didn't seem to hear him as his gold eyes were set like stones in his head, his fingers wrapped around the strand coming from his palms like they were whip handles.

The three were worried about the new guy actually killing the man they had been sent to recruit, but none of them could work up the nerve to stop him. Finally Jinx did, for the sake of the mission. She stormed over as fast as she could and, once within arm reach, reared back and back handed Coil hard across the face. Coil's once stone face seemed to crack and chip, his angered and frightening façade disappearing as his grip on the strand loosening. The cords slacked, and Steel Skin fell from their grip coughing and holding his throat. The cords retracted back into Coil's palms, and there was a sharp but quick clicking noise like a camera lens.

Coil looked down at his hands as if they were smeared with blood. Jinx tilted her head to see what held his attention, but Coil buried his hands in his pockets before she could get a look. She looked back up to meet his eyes, which were drilling holes in her.

"…Thanks…" Coil managed, talking as if he were out of breath. He dropped his gaze and sat down on the ground. Jinx looked at him a moment longer before walking over to Steel Skin; they still had a job to do.

"We gave you your fight." She held out the Hive communicator. "Are you in?"

Steel Skin seemed to have regained his breathing and slowly got to his feet. He looked at the small yellow device before reaching out and taking it. "You vin. Nearly killed me, but you vin. I'm in." He slipped the communicator into a pocket of his vest.

"They'll call you when you are needed. Until then, try to stay out of jail." She flicked her hand in a small wave off and walked back to Coil, who was now standing with Gizmo and Mammoth. This was their new team, and so far they were winning. As they walked off, Steel Ski watched them, taking out the communicator and looking at it in his hand.

"Revelations" (or) "A Reason to Skip Class"

The need for classes began shortly after the Hive team's recruitment of Steel Skin, who was waiting enrolment at the moment. In each of his classes, Coil had at least one of his team members with him. This was by no means a coincidence, and he was not foolish enough to think so. It was not such a problem that it needed to be complained about, but it had its flaws. Every other day he had to put up with Gizmo giving the hard treatment about his inferior intellect, and having weight training with Mammoth was discouraging. It only truly became awkward when the inevitable question arose.

It was during demolitions and viruses, Col working with Jinx on a remote detonator for a small piece of explosive, when she asked.

"Your powers," She started, fitting a microchip into place and handing it to him to solder on.

"What about them?" He asked as he set the contraption down and set the soldering iron to it.

"Everyone's got a story... What's yours?" She asked, watching him work with her arms resting on the table. They were working in pairs for this assignment, and shared a small circular table.

He handed the device back to her. "No story here." He said with a shrug. She wasn't sure she believed him, but didn't say so as she placed the electronic parts into the metal casing. "Don't know how I got my powers" He continued. Jinx paused in connecting the plated to listen. "One day I just woke up with metal ropes coming out of my palms." He smiled a little, looking down at the fresh wrappings around his palms. "How do you think I got the name Coil?"

Jinx didn't say anything. The last piece fit into place, and she began screwing in the receiver and trigger. "Why the first aid?" She asked comically.

Coil lifted his hands a little, palms facing him. "I…don't like what's under them. It makes me feel…hollow." The lat word was almost pained, and Jinx looked up at him as the trigger was secured in place. For a moment they just looked at one another, then she pushed the button and the piece of C4 between them went off, blowing the table to shards and knocking both of them backwards off their chairs.

The instructor, a gaunt man with a cybernetic hand and a balding scalp walked over to them. "Congratulations" he said, looking at the two of them on the floor. "You finished. Next time, try to stay away from the thing you plan on blowing up." Some of the class chuckled at them under their hands, but none out loud.

Lunch came, Jinx and Mammoth sitting on one side of a table with Gizmo across from them.

"So the newbs just a guy with junk in his system? What a jip. Even metal head was better than him." Gizmo commented, dropping chicken pieces into his mouth. Mammoth was shoveling through his own meal with hast.

"He handled his own." Jinx said, pawing at her food with a spoon before shoving over to Mammoth, who was more than happy to drop it down his throat.

"He' still got nothin compared to us." Gizmo boasted, his face smug. A black metal coil rapped around his mouth, not tight enough to do any damage but enough to keep itself for getting torn off.

"Oh ye of little faith." Came a voice from behind the tiny technician. The cable retracted, and Coil sat down on the other side of Jinx, plate before him. "Does this place always serve mashed potatoes?" He asked, looking down at his food. Everyday so far there had always been a helping of potatoes on his plate at lunch.

"You complainin?" Asked Mammoth, anxious as ever to get his hands on more food.

Coil dropped a spoon full into his mouth. "Not at all." He said with a smile as more and more disappeared from his plate at an alarming rate.

Jinx had no food and no reason to stay, so she got up and began walking out of the cafeteria. Mammoth, Coil, and Gizmo watched her walk off, then the three turned to one another. They had orders not to go alone, so one would have to tag along with Jinx. Since no one was looking forward to such a chore, they played 'rock, paper, scissors' for it.

Mammoth finished off his new plate about the same time Coil caught up with Jinx. He silently reminded himself to stop throwing scissors so much, Mammoth after all never through anything but rock.

"Where you going?" He asked her, standing a few feet behind her tracks as she walked.

"Anywhere but there." She replied without turning around.

"Ok…" Silence for a moment. "You know classes are starting soon." He said, looking for anything to talk about. Silence made him uncomfortable.

Jinx turned in a graceful circle till she was walking backwards, her hands clasped behind her. "Afraid to cut class?" She asked teasingly, her grin mocking and her body bent towards him.

"Afraid? No, no, not at all." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. Jinx's eyes noticed that his bandages were gone from his hands, and when he moved his hands back to his side she caught a quick glimpse of something metal on his palm. Suddenly she stopped walking and reached out, grabbing his wrist and lifting his hands to her eyes.

"Hey! Wait!" Coil called out in surprise, but Jinx wouldn't let his hand go.

Resting on his palm, imbedded into the skin was what looked like a small metal sliding door; the kind commonly associated with air locks. The skin around it looked as if it were tucked under the metal frame around the hatch.

"Is this what you've been hiding?" She said more as a note than a question. Coil quickly snapped his hand from her grip, dropping it quickly into his leather jacket pocket.

"It's were the strands come out." He said, turning his gaze as if ashamed of it. Jinx watched him with all the intensiveness of a feline, and then did something rather random. Leaning sideways, she cart wheeled down the hall before moving into back flips. Coil watched stupefied for a moment before coming back to his senses and following quickly after the pink haired caster.

Jinx stopped her acrobatics at the fork in the hallway. She turned to look down both ways, and realized it was the same place the three of them had met Coil. Coil jogged into place behind her, looking down both ways as well.

"Isn't this…" He started, but was cut off as Jinx grabbed his wrist and flat out ran down one hallway. Coil could do little else but try to keep up, relying a little on Jinx to just drag him some of the way. For a slim person, she was remarkably fast.

They stopped at a door that was no different from the rest, but obviously Jinx knew where they were. Letting go of Coil, she put her hand to the small blue panel next to the door. The metal door opened with a whoosh, and Jinx stepped inside. Coil paused outside for a moment.

"This is the girls' dorms…" He said, looking around as if he was not sure he should have been there. He didn't have much of a choice as he was dragged in by his sleeve. The door hissed shut behind him, and Jinx hit a few buttons on another blue panel. The panel turned red for a moment, then back to blue.

"Why did you bring me in here?" Coil asked, still a little disoriented. If this was a girl's dorm, and Jinx could get in… then that meant…

"You're not very quick are you?" She said with a wink, walking away from him and deeper into the door. It was nothing fancy, and only slightly better than the guys' dorms: a living area, a bathroom, and two beds. The place was a very odd color though. The sheets of one of the beds were a light purple, the walls neon pink and most of the furniture black. It was like someone had been a bi-polar youth who could not decide if they were feeling girlish or Goth while furnishing. The entire place screamed Jinx.

What bugged Coil was that the other bed was neatly made and totally white. "Who's your roommate?" He finally asked as Jinx sat down on her bed.

"Don't need one." Jinx commented with a smirk, motioning for him to sit across form her on the empty bed. He did, his hands resting in his lap while Jinx spread her legs out on her own bed.

"You don't seem to fit in here…" She said, her head resting on one hand, her body lying on the bed.

Coil thought for a moment, looking to the ceiling. "Well… I never expected to see myself as a villain."

Jinx quirked and eyebrow, and Coil took that as she didn't fully understand. "I never planned on being a bad guy." He explained. "But I didn't want to exactly help people either. People have screwed up my life, so why go out of the way to help them? Why help them at all?" He stopped, then looked into her cat eyes. "How about you?"

She rolled over on her bed, her head hanging upside down over the side. "Being good it too boring."

There was a moment of awkward silence, and Coil started to fidget where he sat, moving his hands back and forth and bouncing a little on the bed. Jinx watched as if she were fascinated with every movement he made, yet it was obvious that her mind was elsewhere. When Coil scanned the room, his gold eyes caught sight of a small picture on the table next to Jinx's bed. The picture showed Jinx, dressed with her hair down in a dark violet dress, standing next to a black guy in a suit with a meta band on his forehead.

"Who's that in the picture?" Coil asked.

Jinx seemed to snap out of her mental thoughts and looked over to the picture, her face contorted and her hand flicked towards the picture as if knocking it aside. The glass cracked and the picture fell onto its face.

"I'm going to fix my hair." She said absently, rising and walking into the bathroom. The door locked, and Coil was alone. He rose and walked over to the fallen picture, picking it up and looking through the broken glass at the two. They were standing under a painted banner, a pink flower pinned to Jinx's dress and a white one on the suit of the unknown man. The man standing beside Jinx looked oddly familiar to Coil, but he could not figure out who it was.

He head the door to the bathroom click open, and Coil turned around to see Jinx standing in the doorway. She was still dressed in her usual attire, but her hair was no longer in the pointed tails that she normally wore it in. Instead, her hair was down and fell behind her neck, the strands pushed around her ears. Coil momentarily forgot to exhale as he looked at her.

"What are you doing?" She asked, a little annoyance slipping into her voice, her hands on her hips. Coil didn't understand at first, but then he looked down to realize his hand was still holding the picture frame. He fumbled, trying to place it back on the table, first placing it the wrong way, then trying to place it upside down. Finally he got it right, and immediately it fell down as it had been before he had picked it up.

Letting it sit there, Coil smiled like an idiot with his hands behind his head.

Jinx walked right past him and set the picture back up, her back to Coil. She stood up after it was reset and looked at him. "What did I tell you about touching?" She said with a slim grin, her head tilted to one side. Coil sweated as he tried to remember what she had said.

"Ask?" He answered tenitivly.

Jinx's grin widened. "Right." She shoved him, his feet tripping over one another and his body landing flat on the floor. He looked up to see Jinx standing over him. "Time for you to leave." She said as if counting out the hour. Coil gulped, nodded, and half crawled to the door, where he was immediately let out without having to touch the panel. After he left, Jinx watched the door a moment before turning her gaze to the picture, the crack on the glass running between her and the man in the suit. Jinx huffed and knocked the frame over again, walking back into the bathroom to put her hair up.

Coil stumbled out into the hallway, and ran his head right into a burly chest. He fell backwards, landing on his ass and looking up to see who it was he had run into. Standing over him was the beast Mammoth, arms crossed over his chest.

"Watch it!" He barked, he looked from Coil to the door he had come from. "Why were you in Jinx's room?" He asked, as if suspecting Coil of doing something bad to Jinx or her room.

Coil held his hands up in defense. "She dragged me in! I-I didn't want to miss class!" He pleaded. Mammoth snarled ad shook his head. He couldn't believe this was the same guy who had fought with them against the Titans not a few days before.

"Head Mistress called and assembly. Everyone's s'pose to be there."

Coil got the hint and rose to his feet, walking away towards the lecture hall. Mammoth watched him take the turn at the fork and moved to Jinx's door, the panel swinging open and his body barely squeezing through the door to get inside.

_Next:  
_A special guest to Hive, and an assignment that brings down a dark force upon Jump City


End file.
